By Godfrey AKON
An alleged embezzlement scheme that could be siphoning billions of naira in advertisement revenue may have been uncovered in the Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC, with fingers pointing to top officials of the council.
According to a group of residents speaking as Concerned Citizens of the FCT, the funds amounting over N3billion in advert revenues have been lost to the syndicate.
Speaking at a press briefing on Saturday, the group, accused AMAC’s Signpost Advert Revenue Unit of collecting money daily for signpost advertisements without remitting it to the council, alleging that the scheme has been ongoing for years.
The convener of the group, Dr. Joel Dipo, who spoke on behalf of its members, stated that they decided to speak out as concerned citizens following several investigations into the allegations. He confirmed that they had filed the complaint on behalf of “concerned taxpayers” in the FCT.
They alleged that the revenue unit, which acts as a Technical Partner for Revenue Generation, collects money daily from the public for signpost advertisements without remitting the funds to AMAC.
“There is a fraud going on in the FCT perpetrated in the advertising industry. The Federal Capital Territory is losing an annual revenue of about N3 billion to miscreants, with whom they have a sharing formula,” he said.
He therefore called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to investigate the council and take swift action against those behind the alleged fraud.
Highlighting a jurisdictional conflict, the group noted that the FCT’s Department of Outdoor Advertisement and Signage, DOAS, is the legally mandated body for revenue collection. They alleged that AMAC has been actively undermining DOAS to facilitate the diversion of funds.
“Rather, they are stealing and siphoning money through what is called the first-party advert for their selfish purposes. So, what they do is they don’t allow the FCT Department of Outdoor Advertisement and Signage to collect the money and remit it to the FCTA.
“AMAC is collecting this money. They are sharing it on good authority,” he alleged.
The group further claimed that the misappropriated funds are being used for personal enrichment instead of community development.
“They refuse to use it for any developmental work, they don’t construct roads or do anything that would benefit AMAC residents. There is nothing.
“The money that goes to AMAC, they just use it anyhow, using public funds to buy perfumes, cars and clothes, and to do all sorts of things.”
According to the group, the council has the capacity to generate over N5 billion annually on adverts alone, warning that if the situation is left unchecked then the administration could be loosing alot in revenues that can be used for infrastructure development.
“From my investigation, AMAC is collecting this money. They refuse to use it for any developmental work. The AMAC chairman is simply doing nothing. He has done nothing to better the lot of people living in council,” he stated
He said that this calls for urgent attention, “The minister needs to understand that he needs to step into this matter as soon as possible. He needs to empower DOAS to collect this money in the interest of residents of the FCT.
“They are just generating revenue and sharing it among themselves for personal uses. Imagine giving private individuals the name ‘AMAC’ and making them signatories to the account, without any government functionaries.
“From our investigation, 100 percent of what DOAS generates goes straight to remittal for the government to use to develop the FCT, while 100 percent of what AMAC generates goes straight to private accounts for their personal uses.
This is a very serious matter and the minister needs to look into it before it gets out of hand.”
When contacted for reaction, the Senior Special Assistant Media and Public Affairs to the AMAC Chairman, Kingsley Madaki, who denied knowledge of such alleged scam, said the council had concessioned collection of mobile advert revenue to DOAS, and so doesn’t get directly involved in such revenue collection.
He maintained that AMAC only collect its advert revenue from DOAS, that remits an agreed percentage of the periodic revenue collected, as it is within its constitutional right to do so.
